Flat Funding Burdens Increasingly Diverse District 191

As its student base becomes increasingly diverse, the Burnsville-Eagan-Savage School District is battling to provide state and federally-mandated services to its 9,897 students during a state budget crunch.

“We’re going into the fourth year without any increase in funding,” said Dr. Randy Clegg, superintendent of District 191, referring to his district’s $112 million annual budget.

The sprawling district includes parts of three cities south of the Minnesota River in Dakota County. Underscoring the area’s increasingly diverse student base are the 57 languages spoken by students in the system.

The wave of demographic change began 15 years ago, said Clegg, transforming a district that once was mostly white students classifying themselves as Hispanic, Latino, African, African American, Asian and American Indian.

“We’re similar to Bloomington, Richfield or Hopkins right now,” he added. “But we’re probably 10 years behind them in terms of handling challenges.” Like the three diverse suburban school districts cited by Clegg, Burnsville-Eagan-Savage receives about $3,000 less in funding per pupil than urban school districts in Minnesota.

Charlene Briner, director of communications for the Minnesota Department of Education, said the urban Minneapolis, St. Paul and Duluth districts receive extra funding for each student because inner city students require more special education services and free or reduced-price lunches.

“I think the Burnsville superintendent would tell you that diversity is increasing,” said Briner, who noted that demographics are changing in second-ring, third-ring suburbs and exurbs surrounding Minneapolis and St. Paul.

They're changing so much that two District 191 elementary schools, Sky Oaks Elementary School in Burnsville and Hidden Valley Elementary School in Savage, are “minority-majority” schools, where less than 50 percent of students are white.

During the 2009-10 school year, the racial composition of Sky Oaks Elementary School was 43 percent white, 27 percent black, 22 percent Hispanic, six percent Asian and two percent American Indian.

Clegg said populations contributing to the diverse nature of District 191 are  Hispanic and Somali students, which explains why the three most widely spoken languages in students’ homes are English, Spanish and Somali.

Ruth Dunne, communications director for the district, said that 71 percent of the district’s $112 million annual budget is provided by the state. Property taxes paid by district residents make up 24 percent of school funding, with federal funding contributing another five percent. District funding also includes a variety of grants and donations.

Financially, the district is doing “as well as you can be under these circumstances,” said Dunne. “We saw the writing on the wall and we prepared for it.”

District 191 voters passed a referendum that maintained class size and created an $8 million reserve to help make up for increased costs and flat state funding.

But the district is spending $3 million more each year than it brings in, creating a drain on the reserve fund. “Every district has issues, and what they mostly have to do with is funding,” said Dunne. “I would say we’re making due.”

Despite the influx of students of color, Clegg said the number of ELL students in District 191 has leveled off at about 1,000. “It’s a diverse community; it’s like the rest of the world,” he said. “The challenge probably has been greatest for the classroom teacher. Now you’re teaching five students with five different ethnic backgrounds in the same classroom.”

Clegg went on to question the role of District 191 going forward – providing all state and federally-mandated programs at budgets that well could shrink if education spending is used to make up the state’s projected $6.2 billion budget deficit.

“I think the challenge for the state is that the current system is no longer sustainable,” he said. Briner cited funding for high-priced special education services mandated by the federal government as one example.

While mandated, the feds pay only 18 percent of the tab to teach students with learning disabilities, she said.

“I think there have to be some serious questions about what do we expect public schools to do,” said Clegg. “We’re looking at a long-term challenge for schools here and across the country. Even if the economy recovers, funding will lag behind by two years.”